Raising Your Kids To Be Entrepreneurs? Read Them This Book

Andy Ellwood
, ContributorI write about the art and the science of hustle.Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.

There are a lot of factors successful entrepreneurs look back on when describing the path that led them to their current ring side seats at the intersection of innovation and business. No matter what industry they're in, there are always stories they pointed to in their early years. Whether it is Bill Gates living a few blocks away from the University of Washington's computer facilities or Jack Dorsey growing up with an obsession for maps and how small pieces of information travel, there are curiosities and patterns that seem to form at a very early age.

Thinking back on where and how the curiosity started for me, I first thought back to my weekly lemonade stand and then to my lawn mowing business. But then I began to wonder if maybe some of those patterns started even earlier than that. I wonder if maybe they started with bed time stories and the book "I'm As Quick As A Cricket." I recently gave my almost 10 month old niece this book and heard from my brother that, mixed with his enthusiastic reading style, it is one of her favorites.

The book starts off, "I'm as quick as a cricket, I'm as slow as a snail. I'm as small as an ant, I'm as large as a whale." Through another 18 adjective and animal combinations, a range of emotions and characteristics show the variety and breadth of an individual, in this case, a child. But, as I reread this book before wrapping it as a gift, I couldn't help but think that they are the emotions and characteristics of an entrepreneur as well.

Sometimes you'll be strong as an ox or feel hot as a fox and other times you'll be shy as a shrimp or, when you close that big partnership, wild as a chimp. In my current role as Chief Strategy Officer for the creative studio Goodpenny, I wear a lot of different hats. From the bigger picture planning, managing sales, sending a few creative tweets, or outlining the content initiatives we have coming this fall, there are a lot of things that wouldn't fit into a 'normal' job description. For small teams, and for most entrepreneurs I know, if the question arises "who is in charge of that?" there are usually more than a couple of hands that go up as everyone brings whatever they have towards the much bigger effort of succeeding towards the common goal.

So, did my bent towards being a jack of all trades and master of some start before I'd ever earned my first dollar? Maybe so. But if nothing else, keeping a copy of "I'm As Quick As A Cricket" in my office has been a great conversation starter.

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